Book News Roundup: Olivia Cooke For Ready Player One Adaptation

It has been announced that British actress Olivia Cooke (currently starring in Bates Motel and the recently released festival hit film Me, Earl and the Dying Girl) is in line to take on a role in the Steven Spielberg-directed film adaptation of Ready Player One. The novel by Ernest Cline was a success upon its release and has gained a large fanbase since its publication. Cooke will be playing the character Art3mis, the love interest of protagonist Parzival, who is also his rival in the digital world OASIS in which the two are seeking a mysterious easter egg prize left behind by the program’s deceased creator.

The Harry Potter series Pottermore website will be facing a complete redesign, including a brand new logo, as part of its relaunch. The new-look site plans on hosting more ‘original content’ and easier navigation, such as making the content more searchable – meaning that Pottermore content will no longer be exclusive to members, but accessible to all (yay!)

For Harry Potter fans in Canada – Toronto, specifically – a new bar has opened up. The Lockhart’s drinks menu serves up a selection of ‘Potions & Elixirs’, such as the Shacklebolt (otherwise known regularly as a Dark and Stormy). You can see the bar’s Twitter feed @TheLockhartTO.

Roadside Picnic, the Soviet novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, is now going to be made into a television series. This classic science fiction story tells of an Earth in the near future that has been altered by a mysterious alien encounter. Strange, infected areas have popped up, sites where the rules of physics no longer seem to apply but are littered with scraps of alien technology that have been left behind by the visiting species. Previously adapted in the 1970s as the film Stalker, it will be fun to see how this story plays out over multiple episodes.

Finally, Zoe Saldana has been cast in the adaptation of the critically acclaimed graphic novel I Kill Giants (2008-), about a girl named Barbara Thorson who spends her time outside of the school classroom fighting monsters, both real and imaginary. Saldana will play Barbara’s school psychologist, Mrs. Mollé.